@snap_understeer_ftw: Sure you could, but you'd have to be rolling backwards to get the nuts off and forwards to put them on! Also, personal risk would increase alarmingly, but these guys don't seem to mind.

@Prismatist steers with his right foot: Too bad we can't tell if the left rear is stopped the whole time or just while they're actively messing with it. If that's a slight downhill, all it would take is to push in the clutch (or even better, put it in neutral) and give it a click of handbrake. That would stop the…

@DiExMachina: Actually, I believe the term is son of a mare.

As off-putting as I found your original post, I must say that your reply actually made me think. You may not have changed my mind, but you certainly made me think about it. That was a tremendous piece of writing. Thank you for taking so much care and effort to respond to my admittedly coarse reply.

@Gothamite88: How pathetic a life one must lead if the first thing they look for when examining something new is "does it include minorities". I though we were supposed to avoid looking at things from the perspective of race, yet that's the lens you look through when analyzing a goddam set of novelty trading cards. …

Absolutely. I remember reading a very interesting article a couple years ago on how the job role of full-size luxury SUVs will change with the economic downturn and rising fuel prices. Basically, that Escalades and Navigators will be tomorrow's beater workhorses. I wish I could find a copy, it was really good.

Who gives a shit? "Americans use a lot of power" is one of the most intellectually lazy arguments one can make. It's the sustainability equivalent of "McDonald's makes you fat." No shit, Sherlock. That's not an "interesting theory", that's just a conversion of units presented as a new revelation.

Why does it look like somebody waxed the rear quarter windows, then let it dry in the sun?

@87CE 95PV Type Я: Good choice, but might as well treat yourself to some leather and fake wood. It is free, after all.

@Batshitbox:

Still gets looks wherever it goes. The most timeless SUV ever built (second being the XJ). SWB versions in particular, as LWBs have always looked a bit goofy.

@DubiousNature: Long live the whale.

@MysticStick: Not just catching bad guys, either. It's the official car of Mexican bad guys, too.

@Tom: It's a very good looking car. Too bad about the second-gen model looking like a swollen tick.

Anything's going to sell poorly after going unchanged for nearly nine years. Look at the comments on the link you provided (the actual Autoguide article); most of the comments almost go so far as to take on the tone of a funeral.

Test drivers gotta eat/shop, too! I have a picture somewhere of me eating a Tommy's chili burger and fries off the trunk of a fully camouflaged test mule. I need to find that sometime.

@Adam: The Element has been quite successful and still has a large following. Are you sure you're not thinking of the Ridgeline?

@HotSoup: I feel your pain. 2008 was a steaming pile. Excel 2008 was even worse. I will say that 2011 is much better, although still a big step down from Word X (2001), which I still keep a copy of just in case.

@MrCheatachu: That's exactly the problem, isn't it?

@CaptainJack: I like the way you think.